'He's not happy' - Manager explains 'embarrassing' decision over Manchester United loanee
The Man Utd loanee contributed to an important win but did not have the same role he would have wanted.
Jadon Sancho has had to wait his time for a chance at Aston Villa and even when it came at the weekend, it was not quite what he expected. The 25-year-old departed Manchester United on a season-long loan, effectively bringing his association with the club to an end ahead of the expiration of his contract next summer.
Sancho had done reasonably well during a loan at Chelsea last season, but has only played a sporadic role for Villa this campaign. His only starts have come in the Europa League defeat to Go Ahead Eagles and the Carabao Cup exit to Brentford, with just two substitute appearances in the Premier League.
The first of those was the final eight minutes as Villa drew with Sunderland last month, while the other came in the weekend win over Man City. Sancho was called upon to replace the injured Emi Buendia in the first half of the match, but only managed to play 45 minutes before he was taken off himself in the 74th minute.
Emery explains controversial Sancho call
Jadon Sancho was visibly frustrated as he exited the Villa Park pitch and manager Unai Emery even admitted it was 'embarrassing' for the Manchester United loanee to be treated that way. However, there did seem to be some logic behind the decision.
Emery only planned for Sancho to play a small cameo role in the match and there is an argument to say he actually got a greater opportunity than he was expected to have, even if it did not end how he had envisaged.
Speaking after the 1-0 win over Man City, Emery was quizzed on the substitution. “Yes, sure he’s (Sancho) not happy, but I did it before with Morgan Rogers, with Emiliano Buendia, with Leon Bailey, and he played 60 minutes on Thursday,” he told talkSPORT.
“Today, when he (Buendia) was injured, my plan was maybe in case he (Sancho) was going to play 30 minutes, but I decided to play more and he played 45 minutes. But my plan was that when he was swapped with Emiliano Buendia, the idea was maybe not playing all the minutes until the last moment. And I told him as well, he can feel it, it’s embarrassing.”
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